MAD for South Africa
February 22nd - March 3rd
March 4th - 6th, Safari Extension
Join Curator Lowery Sims and Director Holly Hotchner on a once in a lifetime trip to South Africa in celebration of the Museum’s Exhibition The Global Africa Project. The exhibition illuminates the rapid and pervasive interchange in the contemporary practice of design, craft, and art, and will portray the truly global nature of being African, or African-descended, in today’s world and will focus on aspects of contemporary design, craft and art.

Reflecting the spirit of the exhibition, this trip will focus heavily on visits to many of the studios of artists represented in the exhibition, as well as include a deep look at the rich culture of artisanship in the region. We will be welcomed into the homes of some of South Africa’s finest collectors, will dine in its best restaurants and will spend time in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, which was recently highlighted in the New York Times for its coastal beauty.

We have the good fortune to be joined on the trip by Marion Ellis. Marion was born on a farm in Africa and after studying languages and history of art at the University of Cape Town traveled extensively. She now runs Cape Insights, a boutique travel company that designs special interest tours, and is inspired to offer visitors what she wanted to find when traveling - fascinating locals and serendipitous moments.

For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Lee Ramsey at lee.ramsey@madmuseum.org or 212.299.7732.

Contemporary Design and Architecture in Norway and Finland
June 13th - 22nd
Chief Curator David McFadden, Scandinavian design specialist, and Director Holly Hotchner have been invited, and are being sponsored by the local governments in Finland and Norway to take a ‘Design Reconnaissance’ trip. This is a unique opportunity to learn about contemporary design in Scandinavia today through visits to design studios, private collections of contemporary art and design, and “behind the scenes” tours in galleries, museums, and design companies. We invite you to join Holly and David for 9 endless summer nights on a magical trip highlighting the cutting edge art, architecture and design in both Finland and Norway.

Modern Architecture of Madrid and Barcelona with an extension to Alhambra in Granada
October 2-10 2009 (extension October 10-12)
Sign-up for this trip by May 1!  Madrid and Barcelona boldly burst onto the map as a cosmopolitan travel destination with their resurgence in contemporary architecture, art, and cuisine and yet each maintain the vigor, heritage, and culture of traditional European centers. We’ll visit artists, galleries, private homes, and tour the Prado, Caixa Forum Art Space designed by Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron, Reina Sofia Contemporary Art Museum, Palau d’Esports Sant Jordi, designed by Arata Isozaki, Communications Tower, one of Santiago Calatrava’s finest works, Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art by Richard Meier, and much more. With Spain in the spotlight of contemporary world cuisine and wine, we’ll take time to enjoy both, as well as have ample time to relax and enjoy the energy of these cities. Our trip will offer an extension to Alhambra.

Contemporary Pittsburgh and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water
June 11-14 2009
Registration accepted until April 13 (hotel availability permitting).  Pittsburgh is not the dim industrial city you might think, but rather it is a beacon of contemporary art and culture. In this growing cosmopolitan city, we’ll find great restaurants, excellent shopping, and world-class galleries and renowned art institutions, such as the Mattress Factory, Society of Contemporary Craft, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Andy Warhol Museum, and enjoy access to the private homes and collections in the area. We’ll also spend the day enjoying two very different residences by Frank Lloyd Wright, Kentuck Knob, commissioned by I.N. Hagan in 1953 and situated on 79 acres punctuated by a world-class sculpture collection, and, Falling Water, designed as a summer retreat for Pittsburgh businessman Edgar J. Kaufmann.

Seattle
June 5-8, 2008
MAD’s excursion to Seattle, a mecca for glass and contemporary art and architecture was an exciting journey. Our group privately toured Philchuck with a glass blowing demonstration by Thom McMahon, took curator led tours of the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Museum of Glass, Olympic Sculpture Park and Bellevue Art Museum, visited the William Traver Gallery’s exhibition of glass artists Nancy Callan and Amy Rueffert and the Foster/White Gallery, spent time with artists Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora C. Mace, Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni and Janusz Pozniak at their homes/studios/workshops and stopped at the Rem Koolhaas designed Seattle Public Library. The special invitations obtained by MAD to visit the private homes of the most renowned collectors in the US, including, Anne Gould Hauberg, Jon and Mary Shirley, and Susan and Jeff Brotman, were outstanding highlights of the trip.

Loas and Vietnam with an optional extension to Cambodia
March 1-17, 2008
MAD’s mini-grand tour of the Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia was a terrific success. The group experienced first-hand Vietnam’s thriving contemporary art and traditional craft scene. In Laos, the group enjoyed a private tour of American designer Carol Cassidy’s studio, where more than 50 enterprising artisans, mostly women, created shimmering wraps, ikat (fabrics woven with resist-dyed thread) scarves, and brocade wall hangings using centuries–old patterns with modern colors. Those who continued on to Cambodia saw the ruins of the ancient Khmer Empire at Angkor, considered one of the wonders of the world, and visited Les Artisans D’Angkor, a workshop where young Cambodians learn the crafts of wood and stone carving, lacquering, and silk weaving.